The hardware construction of a VTR of the present invention for recording and reproducing a frame control signal is schematically illustrated in FIG. 1, wherein a microprocessor 1 is used for controlling the speed and phase of a capstan motor 6 and a drum motor 5. Referring to FIG. 1, a microprocessor 1 receives a synchronizing signal Sync containing a vertical synchronizing signal Vsync and a horizontal synchronizing signal Hsync at an input terminal EXT/INT and, using the Vsync signal as a reference, supplies a control signal at a first input/output port I/O PORT 1 to a control head 2 via a recording amplifier 3 during recording, and receives at the first input/output port I/O PORT 1a control signal reproduced from the control head 2 via a reproducing amplifier 4 during playback. On the other hand, the microprocessor 1 generates a frame control signal at a second input/output port I/O PORT 2, and outputs a high signal when the frame control signal is generated. The output signal from the second input/output port I/O PORT 2 is logically multiplied in an AND gate 5 with the reproduced control signal supplied from the reproducing amplifier 4, and then the logically multiplied output is supplied to a video signal processor not shown in the drawing.
In a conventional home video tape recorder, as shown in FIGS. 2A and 2B, two fields constitute one frame on the video track VT of a video tape T, and, since one control signal is generated per each field on the control track CT, the rising edge portion of the control signal can be used for phase control of the capstan motor. When one frame is composed of multiple video tracks, however, still only one control signal is generated per each field as above, and since phase control is performed with the control signal, the ability of the control signal to precisely control the capstan motor decreases, even though the rising edge of the control signal is used to produce the frame control signal. For example, when a frame is formed by eight video tracks, the phase control signal is provided only twice for every eight video tracks. Accordingly, it is disadvantageous in that the accuracy of the phase control decreases.
In addition, because the frame control signal conveys information for indicating the reference point of one frame of a television picture, the absence of this information deprives the display circuit of a reference point for interlaced scanning. As a result, the frame is not properly formed. In a VHS (Video Home System) format, the conventional home video tape recorder allows for a video format of one field for each video track on the video tape and one frame, constituting one still television picture, for every two video tracks. However, when a frame is made up of more than two video tracks, it is impossible to discriminate the respective frames with only the control signal in control track of the video tape. Therefore, it is disadvantageous in that the prior method for generating the frame control signal in a VTR is unable to be adapted to a system in which one picture frame is formed by multiple video tracks.